Thumbprint Cookies

Ingredients:

225g/8 oz butter, softened
100g/3 1/2 oz confectioner's sugar
1 tspn vanilla extract
100g/ 3 1/2 oz ground almonds
200g/ 7 oz all-purpose flour
*jam (of any kind- strawberry, raspberry, plum and blueberry work best!)
confectioner's sugar for dusting

Method:

Lightly grease two baking sheets. Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy, then beat in the vanilla. Blend in the ground almonds and then gradually add the flour, bringing the mixture together with your hands to form a soft dough as you add the last of the flour.

Lightly dust your hands with flour and roll the dough into small balls about the size of a walnut. Arrange on the baking sheets and using your thumb, make a deep hole in the center of each cookie. Chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180 C/350 F. Bake the cookies for 10 minutes, then fill each hole with a little jam and return to the oven until pale golden, about 5 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets for a couple minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with confectioner's sugar to finish.

*the jam I used was homemade Plum Jam made by Alex Moroni, based in Cork. His jams are the best around!

(from Jacqueline Bellefontaine- 'Cookies Galore')